ultimatepopculturefandomcom-20200216-history
E. L. James
| birth_name = Erika Mitchell | birth_place = Willesden, Middlesex, England | citizenship = British | education = Wycombe High School | alma_mater = University of Kent | occupation = Novelist, film producer | genre = Romance, erotica, fan fiction | years_active = 2011–present | website = | spouse = | children = 2 | signature = }} Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is an English author. She wrote the bestselling erotic romance trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, along with the companion novels Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian and Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian; and under the name Snowqueen's Icedragon the Twilight fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that was the basis for the Fifty Shades trilogy. The combined novels have sold over 125 million copies worldwide, over 35 million copies in the United States and set the record in the United Kingdom as the fastest selling paperback of all time. Who Should be Time's Person of the Year 2012? E.L. James. In 2012, ''Time'' magazine named her one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People."The World's 100 Most Influential People. The novels were subsequently adapted into the films Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. Early life Erika Mitchell was born on 7 March 1963 in Willesden, Middlesex to a Chilean mother and a Scottish father who was a BBC cameraman. She was brought up in Buckinghamshire. James was educated at the independent Pipers Corner School and at Wycombe High School, a state grammar school for girls in the town of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, followed by the University of Kent in South East England where she studied History. Career After leaving university, James became a studio manager’s assistant at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. She married Niall Leonard, a screenwriter, in 1987, and they have two teenage sons. As of 2012 they reside in Brentford, west London.Who is E L James? Chicago Tribune Retrieved 31 May 2012 ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy James says the idea for the Fifty Shades trilogy began as a response to the vampire novel series Twilight. In late 2008 James saw the movie Twilight, and then became intensely absorbed with the novels that the movie was based on. She read the novels several times over in a period of a few days, and then, for the first time in her life, sat down to write a book: basically a sequel to the Twilight novels. Between January and August 2009 she wrote two such books in quick succession. She says she then discovered the phenomenon of fan fiction, and this inspired her to publish her novels as Kindle books under the pen name "Snowqueens Icedragon". Beginning in August 2009 she then began to write the Fifty Shades books.Triple-X trilogy of novels has women talking (quietly). msnbc. Retrieved 31 May 2012 James has spoken of her shock at the success of the books. "The explosion of interest has taken me completely by surprise" she said."Fifty Shades of Grey author E L James – Exclusive interview" (16 July 2012) Shropshire Star. Retrieved 16 July 2012 James has described the Fifty Shades trilogy as "my midlife crisis, writ large. All my fantasies in there, and that's it."'Fifty Shades' author 'stunned' at success of erotic trilogy TODAY MSNBC She did not start to write until January 2009, as she revealed while still active on FanFiction.Net: "I started writing in January 2009 after I finished the Twilight saga, and I haven't stopped since. I discovered Fan Fiction in August 2009. Since then I have written my two fics and plan on doing at least one more. After that... who knows?" In August 2013, sales of the trilogy saw James top the Forbes list of the highest-earning authors with earnings of $95m which included $5m for the film rights to Fifty Shades of Grey. On 1 June 2015 James announced the upcoming release of Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian, which was released into stores on 18 June 2015. Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian was released November 28, 2017. Charity work James was one of the British celebrities, including Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel Riley, to design and sign her own card for the UK children's charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children."Celebrity card auction raises over £8,500 for Coram". Coram.org. Retrieved 16 February 2015 The campaign was launched by crafting company Stampin’ Up! UK and the cards were auctioned on eBay during May 2014. Awards and honours *2012 Time 100 by ''Time'' magazine, "The 100 Most Influential People in the World"The 100 Most Influential People in the World Time Magazine. Retrieved 31 May 2012 *2012 Publishers Weekly "Publishing Person of the Year". *2012 National Book Award (UK), "Popular Fiction Book of the Year", Fifty Shades of Grey *2012 National Book Award (UK), "Book of the Year", Fifty Shades of Grey Bibliography *''Fifty Shades of Grey'' (2011) *''Fifty Shades Darker'' (2012) *''Fifty Shades Freed'' (2012) *''Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian'' (2015) *''Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian'' (2017) Filmography References External links * * Category:Living people Category:English erotica writers Category:English people of Chilean descent Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:Fan fiction writers Category:1963 births Category:People educated at Wycombe High School Category:Pseudonymous writers Category:Alumni of the University of Kent Category:English romantic fiction writers Category:21st-century writers Category:21st-century English novelists Category:People from Buckinghamshire Category:English writers Category:Self-published authors Category:Erotica writers Category:Romantic fiction writers Category:BDSM writers